Five-year-old Alysa Bobbitt was killed when a machine gun went off in an apartment below her. A man named Jon Meyer was charged with manslaughter. He told law enforcement he was using the gun as a crutch and it went off accidentally.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winter says investigators learned Meyer was buying guns for other people. And that helped lead a law enforcement task force to a crime ring involved in gun sales, prostitution, drug trafficking, and gang violence.

Winter says lack of law enforcement is drawing organized crime to Southern Oregon.

“These people are out here. These people are in our community. And if you’re a person who doesn’t believe it you’ve got your head buried in the sand,” he said.

Sheriff Winter said investigators thwarted two separate murder plots, and intervened during a felony assault. He says the investigation into the crime ring is ongoing.